There is no doubt that Product Hunt is the best platform for launching new products, particularly tech products. This is a community of tech geeks and other product enthusiasts who are on the ‘hunt’ for new products to try. If you are planning a launch strategy on this platform, make sure you know the best time to launch on Product Hunt so you have a shot at becoming a featured product.
What is the Best Time to Launch on Product Hunt?
According to experts, the best time to launch on Product Hunt is at 12:01 AM PST. The reasoning behind this is simple: the Product Hunt website operates on a 24-hour cycle. Each new day, new products are featured on the website, specifically the home page. When the clock strikes 12:01 AM, this is the best chance that you can get to show up on the Product Hunt home page.
Expert ‘hunters’ on the website also agree that the earlier you launch your product, the more exposure your products can get on the website during the 24-hour period. And that means the higher the chance of your product being exposed to your target audience online. To be on the safe side, you can launch your product anywhere from 12:01 AM to 1:00 AM PST.
The data on the level of activity and engagement on the website also shows that there is one particular window of time in a day that is most promising. This time frame is between 5 and 8 AM PT. This is not to say that you should only launch your product within this time frame; however, you can get the most engagement at this period.
Another strategy that you can use when timing the launch of your product is to do so when your audience is online. This will require a bit of research on who your target audience is and to understand their online activity on Product Hunt. Ultimately, it will help you determine when potential customers are most active and will see when you launch your product.
The algorithm of the Product Hunt website will also determine the popularity of a product based on the number of upvotes and engagement it gets. Therefore, launching your new product when your target audience is online will mean a higher possibility of engagement. And when you get higher engagement, you also increase your chances of getting featured on the home page. This happens when you get a lot of upvotes and engagement within a short period of time.
Knowing this information, you can do your own testing to see what strategies work best for a successful Product Hunt launch. After all, your audience is unique and you have to know what works best for your own products.
When to Launch on Product Hunt
Aside from knowing the best time to launch on Product Hunt, you have to know exactly which days of the week work best. This is crucial because the amount of engagement and activity that you can get on your product page will vary based on what day of the week it is.
According to historical data and the level of activity on Product Hunt, we’ve seen that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are typically the busiest days on Product Hunt with Thursday now also increasingly becoming a busy day. On these days, you will see the highest traffic metrics on the platform but that also means that on these days you will face the fiercest competition and it will be harder to get into the top spots.
Mondays and Fridays have great engagement metrics while having a significantly lower amount of competition. That’s why we now typically recommend launching on Monday or Friday if you are optimizing for a top 1 ranking.
If you are primarily interested in user signups and are okay with a lower spot due to potentially high competition, a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday launch could also make sense.
Additional Tips on Knowing When to Launch on Product Hunt
Aside from knowing the best time and day of the week to launch on Product Hunt, there are a few things that you also have to consider when timing your launch. One of the most important things to keep in mind is competition. You need to assess how many other products are going to be launched that day, especially for bigger tech companies.
Obviously, when bigger companies launch a new product, all eyes are going to be on them. This would mean that you won’t get as much attention, comments, and upvotes on your product.
One strategy that you can use is not to launch your product at exactly 12:01 AM. You can wait until 1:00 AM to see if any major tech products are going to be announced or launched. While there is no guarantee that big tech companies won’t be launching beyond 1 AM, that is the risk you have to take.
In the event that there is a major tech brand launching a new product, you can postpone your launching until the next day. If there is none, you may launch immediately.
Your competition is not just limited to the big tech companies who might be launching new products at the same time as yours. When you post on the high engagement days like Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on Product Hunt, it also means you will get higher competition as other makers will be posting on these days too.
Conclusion
Following the tips cited above on how to schedule your launch on Product Hunt will maximize your chances of increasing engagement. However, the most important factor of all is your product itself. Make sure you have a good product that will attract attention on the platform or no amount of strategic planning will get you the result you want.